IGI features
Tim O’Brien Interview
Mar, 29, 2002
Tom Byrne interviews Tim O’Brien, the well-established and very famous New York based, Irish-American illustrator. His work graces the covers of such magazines as Time and Newsweek. His clients also include advertising agencies and book publishers. As established professionals go, he is among the best. In 1999 and 2000 he was even selected as one of a hundred ‘Irish Americans of the Year’ by Irish American Magazine. Tim, a former boxer, now enters the ring to keep fit but also works up an intense sweat by creating stunningly realistic paintings in oils to very short deadlines.
Could you tell me how long have you been illustrating?
I have been an illustrator since 1987; my senior year in college.
Who influences you in terms of painting?
It’s a long list and not necessarily similar to my style. I did learn quite a bit from studying the work of Paul Cadmus, George Tooker, Gottfried Helnwein, Ingres, Lord Leighton and Ivan Shishkin, to name a few.
What encouraged you to paint in the ‘Renaissance’ style? Did it just come naturally?
I don’t know if ‘Renaissance’ is the best description of what I do but I think clients sometimes hire me to do paintings that look like Renaissance art. My description is conceptual realism with a leaning toward the slightly idealized (in portrait work). I have always had a talent for realism. The hard work was figuring out what to do with this style. Too many others with rendering skill rely on their hands instead of their heads in deciding what they do.
Do you think art directors find it difficult to communicate to you the idea that they want to express in an image? Are art directors who can draw, easier to communicate with and easier to satisfy in terms of the end result?
Art directors are as diverse in ability as any other profession. Most art directors at the top level in publishing and design are very good and probably have art backgrounds. I have found over the years, that I ask more and more questions of art directors and try to understand everything about the job that I can. Art directors can alert you to the tastes of certain editors and help you create images that can please not only the art director, but the editors as well.
How long have you been working for Time Magazine? Do you remember the first commission?
Technically, since 1989. I did a cover for their former art director Rudy Hogland. Then I started again in 1993 as a more regular artist.
Given the incredibly short deadlines to which you often have to work, why do you choose to work in oils? Have you always worked in the same medium?
For me, I am fastest with this medium and have always used oils.
Do you work internationally?
Yes, quite often. Der Speigel in Germany is a regular client.
You live in Brooklyn, New York, and very near Manhattan. It is widely believed that in order to make it as an illustrator you have to live there. Do you believe that it is still necessary to live in the metropolis, in an age where the internet makes distance almost a non-issue?
No. When I was in college I did believe I had to live close to NYC to be a player in the business. Since FedEx and faxes became a reality, it has become easier to work anywhere. Now with e-mail, it has become a very small planet -I know illustrators working in Hawaii. However, there are advantages to being a local illustrator in the world’s largest media market. Work can be delivered by hand the same day. This eases the mind of the nervous art director who frets over production deadlines. I can also have drivers sent from Time Magazine to my house, to pick up art and deliver references. All forms of photographers and digital labs are open 24 hours a day. With a short deadline, this is very important.
Your work has appeared regularly in the Society of Illustrators book and you are a member of that organisation in New York. Is the social as well as professional support, which such an organisation gives you, an important factor in your life?
I’ve been a member of the Society of Illustrators for several years now and on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the past four. I do enjoy the social aspects of being a member and joined primarily for this benefit. I rarely discuss or solicit business there; I prefer my work to get noticed on its own merits.
The unexpected outcome of being a member was my involvement with the Education Committee. I run the nation’s largest scholarship competition for illustration. This show has helped launch the careers of such American notables as Matt Mahurin, Greg Spalenka, Joel Peter Johnson, John Jude Palencar, Mark Fredrickson, Peter DeSeve”. (and previously Tim O’Brien, himself).
You have seen http://www.illustratorsireland.com and you are very familiar with the marketing that is necessary to succeed as a professional illustrator. Do you think that a site like this is a good addition to an illustrator’s marketing armoury?
I saw the site and like it very much. I do not, however, know much about the effectiveness of marketing illustrators through the web. I ask everyone I know about how their sites work for them and I feel the jury is still out as to a site’s effectiveness in attracting clients. Web sites are very useful AFTER an art director has seen work somewhere else and needs a portfolio immediately.
Recently, you accepted a commission to create a portrait of Dr. Michael Smurfit. Would you care to tell us a little about that commission? How long have you been working on it, etc.?
I think the job arose from an article about me in the New York Times. He had his secretary contact me and I thought that Dr. Smurfit was some local medical doctor and I casually returned the phone call only to learn that Dr. Smurfit is a huge name in international business and one of Ireland’s richest men. I met him at his New York apartment in Trump Tower and showed him some originals and he asked for a quote on a full figure portrait, at least six feet high. He accepted my price, and I worked on the portrait for a year, with a brief stop in the middle, to do a portrait of his mother for him. He recently saw both finished pieces and loved the results. I’m happy and relieved. It’s a ton of work and with a highly detailed style such as mine, I had to learn to NOT put everything in the image.
You use natural media to illustrate but you use the computer to communicate with fellow illustrators and clients. Has the computer made a big difference to your life and would you be tempted to use the computer to paint?
Yes it’s a great tool. I do enjoy it for social interaction and to send sketches and receive references, too. However, I’m famous for my oil painting. Though I sometimes struggle with the knowledge that some rendering would be so much easier on the computer, I know that my signature style is traditional painting. As more and more artists ‘jump ship’ I can only be made more valuable by sticking with my method of image making.
Are there any particular issues about which you think today’s illustrators should be concerned?
Bad contracts. These can hurt an artist’s future earnings and worsen the downward-spiralling condition of illustrator/client relationships. It is also my belief that, at a time when illustrators are finding that they are losing power in their relationships with clients, they are focusing too much attention on each other and pointing fingers of condemnation toward their fellow illustrators. This can temporarily make the individual feel as if he/she is doing something to help their industry, but really they’re cannibalizing each other.
Do you issue contracts determining the usage to which a client may put an image? Is usage an element in determining the value of an illustration with your clients? Are contracts important in protecting your legal, creator’s rights (copyright).
Yes, to all those questions. As stated earlier, bad contracts reduce the value of your “catalog”. A great example is the bad contract which the father of Brian Wilson signed, concerning the rights to the Beach Boys’ back catalog. As a result, they receive very little in terms of royalties. Had the Beach Boys read and understood the dire consequences that that bad contract would cause, they might all be as rich as the former Beatles are today.
Do you work with an illustration agent? Is it worth finding one?
Yes. I think it’s a personal decision that each illustrator has to make on his/her own. I prefer not to discuss money and also to use my agent to get me out of jams. One of my biggest constant operational issues is how to take the work I want to do, while “gently” turning down other work. As a real pushover, I need to have my agent smooth over the jilted art director.
Traditionally, Illustrators have relied a lot on advertising agencies, publishers and design companies to earn a living. Do you think that illustrators should diversify into other areas and use their talents without the middleman?
If you mean that they should get into design as well as illustration I say yes. Wendell Minor, a successful American illustrator, offers his design sensibilities when working as an illustrator. With the computer and desktop publishing, the illustrator CAN do this and learning these skills may be a great way to be useful to a client.
You are a regular visitor to The Ispot (http://www.theispot.com). Has the ability to communicate on-line so freely with other illustrators made a big difference to you?
Yes and no. Being in constant communication with other illustrators is informative, sometimes enjoyable, but often a huge time-bandit. I also think that one can get an incorrect impression of the mood or direction of the illustration industry by reading the thoughts and opinions of a select few illustrators. Recently, The Ispot has been less enjoyable for me. I will refrain from explaining why, but I will say that my previous comment concerning cannibalization applies here. Time is always better spent looking out a window or talking to humans, face to face.
Recently, a new illustrators’ organisation was formed in America called the Illustrators’ Partnership of America (IPA). Are you a member? Can you tell us a little bit about their aims, as you understand them? I would be particularly interested in hearing both the IPA’s and your opinion of the stock situation.
I am a founding member of the IPA and hope that this organisation, along with others, can continue to strive to pave the best path into our future. I feel that if images are the currency of the internet and paper publishing, then how images are offered and under which conditions and for which prices they will be licensed, should be decided by the creators. Quality stock images should be like any other premium service. The trouble is, stock houses have already offered images for a DISCOUNT. If I drop film off to be developed and request that it be rushed; I pay a premium. The IPA has a wing called the ALP that may prove to be the spot on the web that helps set the standard for high-quality illustration licensing. We are late to the game and have quite a bit of learning and catching up to do.
My personal belief is that such a site would be successful if we can limit the talent to those who have reached a certain level of achievement. Then have the participating artists ONLY, sell their stock images on this site. In these circumstances, we could prove to be quite valuable to an art buyer. The ALP is not exactly going this route; they are much more inclusive. I trust the decision to broaden the scope of talent available will strengthen the base of the IPA and ALP. I hope this experiment works and the IPA is given the space and time it needs to form and grow.
